We’re super excited about the guest post we have to share today. Becca and Allison are two librarians who Kimberly and I went to the University of Texas iSchool with back in the day, and they’re the voices and brains behind the awesome “This Week in Ladies” podcast, which is all about women in pop culture. They asked if we’d be interested in a guest post about getting teens — and new readers who aren’t quite teens anymore — started with reading comics. 

Of course we are! 

If you’re looking to get started or want to help other readers kick off a comics reading spree, this is the post for you. 

Becca and Allison, the team behind the podcast This Week in Ladies,
are a couple of punk ass book jockeys who live in Austin, Texas. They
spend their time eating queso, haunting their local comic book shop, and
getting way too invested in pub trivia.

So you think you’d like to try comics, but it seems like… a lot. We get it. The entry barrier to comics can be really high, especially if you’re reading about characters who’ve been around fifty or more years. Figuring out what to read, and in what order, can be really complicated.

We were in the same place two years ago. After Marvel’s The Avengers came out, though, we had Avenger fever and dove into the world of comics, slowly figuring out how to parse this format and this industry. Two years ago, neither of us knew what a pull list was, and now we haunt our local comic shop every week.

So we’ve compiled a list of recommended comics for you, divided into two categories: Marvel All In, and Badass Ladies. (Sorry, DC.) Our Marvel recommendations will help you dive in further if you like the movies, the TV show, or People’s Sexiest Man Alive. Badass Ladies recs are for people who need more badass ladies in their lives. Which is all of us.

Want to read some of these? Most have been compiled into trades (that’s when a few, usually six, monthly issues get put into a softcover book together), which you can purchase from your local comic book shop, or borrow from your local library.

And, if this leads you down the rabbit hole, you can always check out our podcast, This Week in Ladies. Every (other) week, we talk comics, books, and pop culture in general from a feminist perspective.

Young Avengers

Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3

Writer: Kieron Gillen, Artist: Jamie McKelvie

The Young Avengers, who first appeared in 2005, were created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung. They are a ragtag group of teen heroes modeled on the original flavor Avengers (Kate “Hawkeye” Bishop, for example, shoots arrows, wears purple and has no superpowers), who step up to fill the superhero void created by the Avengers: Disassembled storyline. Though the 2013 series occurs in the same continuity, you can still jump in here without being lost. Gillen’s snappy dialogue, filled with slang and pop culture references that feel totally natural, combined with McKelvie’s clean, cool art and Matthew Wilson’s vibrant coloring, creates a series that feels young, fresh and fun, but not frivolous. World-saving is still serious business, after all, even for teens.

Runaways

Vol. 1 [Wikipedia’s your best bet to follow the progression of this one]

Writer: Brian K. Vaughan (also written by Terry Moore and some guy you’ve probably never heard of named Joss Whedon), Illustrator: Various

The Runaways are a ragtag group of superpowered teens whose parents are part of an evil organization called the Pride. Wanting nothing to do with their parents’ bad guy ways, the teens run away together, and adventure ensues. While this storyline is situated in the same Marvel universe as those involving the major heroes (the Runaways, for example, encounter the Young Avengers during the events of Civil War), you don’t need any knowledge of that world at all to enjoy Runaways. In fact, this book will introduce you to a lot of the Marvel characters and mythology in a really accessible way. Still not sold? One of the Runaways has a dinosaur sidekick named Old Lace. (Sub-rec: anything ever written by Brian K. Vaughan)

Guardians of the Galaxy

Vol. 1 (and ongoing)

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis, Artists: Steve McNiven, Sara Pichelli

Chances are you’ve heard of the Guardians, as they did star in the second-highest grossing movie of the year. You probably already know they’re a ragtag group of space bandits who’ve taken it upon themselves to, well, guard the galaxy. While I’m not sure I’d say the book is better than the movie, it’s definitely funnier. It also has four fully-realized, interesting characters with back stories and relatable motivation, while the movie maxed out at two (Drax, unfortunately, is still lacking). The Guardians are a bit grittier than the Avengers, and more likely to justify questionable means with righteous ends, of which they are well aware, making this a little more thoughtful than your standard space action/adventure/comedy.

She-Hulk

Vol. 1, Vol. 2

Writer: Charles Soule, Artist: Javier Pulido

Soule’s She-Hulk has a lot in common with Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye, including art by Pulido. Like Hawkeye, She-Hulk is about what Jennifer Walters does when she’s not with the Avengers, which is practice law. After falling out with her law firm, Walters strikes out on her own, focusing on cases that involve the superhero community. She works with a ragtag group of fellow badass ladies–landlord and former mutant Sharon, investigator and costumed crusader Patsy, and paralegal-with-a-past Angie. With this cast of characters, Soule soundly answers that age-old and infuriating question: Can authors write believable characters of the opposite sex? If you’re looking for a book in which Walters Hulks out a lot, this one isn’t for you. If you’re looking for a book about a mature, adult woman who’s good at her job and has healthy relationships with friends and colleagues, give it a go.

Captain Marvel

Vol. 1, Vol. 2, reboot Vol. 1

Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick, Artists: Dexter Soy, Emma Rios, Filipe Andrade, David Lopez

For starters: July 6, 2018. Carol Danvers, originally created as overtly feminist superhero Ms. Marvel in the 1970s, comes into her own in her new solo title, which debuted in 2012. The former Air Force pilot leads a ragtag team of veterans, nerds, and little girls as they battle evil forces at home and across the galaxy. Carol is smart, fearless, caring, and prefers punching to talking. Her best friend, Spider-Woman, shows up for a few issues, too. DeConnick pairs with a few illustrators over the series, and each one brings something different to Carol (though her hair is always crazy). Read this to see why the Carol Corps is the most dedicated fanbase of any Marvel character.

Ms. Marvel

Vol. 1 (and ongoing)

Writer: G. Willow Wilson, Artist: Adrian Alphona

A ragtag group of good students in New Jersey battle supervillains, alligators in the sewer, and strict parents. The new Ms. Marvel is Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager living in Jersey City who LOVES superheroes (some of her fanfiction has received A LOT of hits, thank you very much). Now that Carol Danvers has traded in for her new name, Marvel created a brand new character to take over the old moniker (inspired by Marvel editor Sana Amanat’s teen years). Kamala’s faith and culture absolutely inform her character and her storylines, but she’s a whole person, not just a caricature or an afterschool special about diversity — she’s funny, earnest, and deeply weird.

Avengers Assemble

Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4

Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick, Artist: Stefano Caselli

Avengers Assemble is the comic Marvel debuted to draw in fans of the movies, so it features a ragtag team you may have seen a blockbuster summer film about. During Kelly Sue DeConnick’s run, the comic featured a variety of teamups, including a number of Avengers introducing teenager Spider-Girl to the realities of superhero life and Iron Man and the Hulk making a competition out of rescuing a scientist friend who’s been captured by villains (loser walks through downtown Manhattan naked). Caselli’s crisp, bright, clean-lined art is the perfect complement to this story, which, even though it’s about superheroes, is among the most real things we read. Funny, but always with a fantastic heart.

New Avengers

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis, Artists: Various

Starting in 2005, New Avengers featured a ragtag crew of every Avenger you’ve ever heard of (and a bunch you haven’t). The storyline came out of the aftermath of the Avengers disbanding after failing to stop the Scarlet Witch (read up on this before Avengers: Age of Ultron comes out!). Over the five years Bendis wrote it, they tackled the Civil War (to be featured in Captain America 3), the rise and fall of intelligence agencies (and how to navigate allegiance to those agencies), seeing old friends go evil, and how to be married and a superhero at the same time. This is your sweeping epic melodrama. (New Avengers is the most sprawling thing we’re recommending here, and honestly, the Wikipedia page is probably your best guide to the trades.)

Badass Ladies

Lumberjanes

Vol. 1 (and ongoing)

Writers: Noelle Stevenson & Grace Ellis, Artist: Brooke Allen

Did you like the “Pawnee Rangers” episode of Parks & Recreation? Do you wish it had more magic? Then oh my bell hooks, is Lumberjanes the comic for you. Featuring a ragtag group of campers at a summer camp with some seriously mysterious happenings, Lumberjanes is funny, silly, and deeply weird. Our campers battle werewolves, gods, controlling counselors, and hypnotized boy campers, earning a lot of great badges along the way.

Rat Queens

Vol. 1 (and ongoing)

Writer: Kurtis J. Wiebe, Artist: Roc Upchurch

I like to think of the Rat Queens as the Lumberjanes after they grow up and discover sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. As you might imagine, then, this one has more mature content than the rest of the titles on our list. On its face, Rat Queens is a fantasy book about a ragtag group of marauders–sorceress Hannah, warrior Violet, healer Dee, and thief Betty. But, it’s really about found family, gender and sexuality, growing up and kicking ass. Oh, and it’s hilariously funny.

Fray

Complete series

Writer: Joss Whedon, Artist: Karl Moline

Fray is about a ragtag group of…well, actually, Melaka Fray is kind of a loner. Unlike her predecessor Buffy Summers, she doesn’t have a Scooby Gang. Or a Watcher. Fray takes place well into the flying car-future. There hasn’t been a Slayer in two hundred years and nobody even knows what vampires are, so no previous knowledge of Buffy the Vampire Slayer is required to enjoy this book (unlike this review). The book’s got a lot of Whedon hallmarks–Badass lady? Check. Quick-paced dialogue heavy on the fictional slang? Check. Death of a beloved character? CHECK. The art is both colorful and gritty, perfectly capturing the atmosphere of Fray’s dystopian future.

Batgirl Beyond

Trade

Writer: Scott Peterson, Artist: Annie Wu

OK, DC, you get this one. The Batman Beyond universe is set in a future where Bruce Wayne is a bitter old man and Neo-Gotham is once again the lawless place of his youth. High schooler Terry McGinnis is the new Batman, and former Batgirl Barbara Gordon has succeeded her father as police commissioner. In Batgirl Beyond — tragically, a single issue, and not an epic that went on forever — Barbara Gordon meets a new young (woman of color!) Batgirl on the rough side of town, and together they take on a evil business dude. Annie Wu designed the costume, and designed it to look like it was created by the character, making it unlike a lot of other female superhero costumes. This Batgirl is funny and cocky and it’s a damn shame we never got to see more of her.